Character Spotlight: Daredevil, Part 1

The Man Without Fear. Ol’ Hornhead. The Devil of Hell’s Kitchen. Mike. Matt Murdock has gone by many names as the protector of his part of New York City. One thing is the same, Matt Murdock is a stubborn person who tends to get in way over his head. How did he get this way and why does he do it? Let’s find out!

Matthew Michael Murdock was born to Jonathan “Battlin’ Jack” Murdock and Margaret “Maggie” Grace Murdock in Hell’s Kitchen. Suffering from post-partum depression lead to events that had Maggie leave her family to become a nun. Jack would tell his son that his mother had died so he didn’t know that his mother had tried to hurt them while she was suffering. While rescuing an old man from being hit by a truck, Matt would get splashed in the face by the chemicals the truck had been carrying when it crashed. Blinding him of his sight, he would be granted heightened senses and a radar sense to replace his sight.

Jack was a small-time boxer and did side work for the mob as an enforcer so he could support Matt, who he wanted to get a good education and not spend his days fighting people like his dad did. When Jack was paid to take a dive in a fight and he refused, he was killed for his insubordination. Leaving Matt alone and coping with his lost sight and overwhelming new enhanced senses. A mysterious blind man named Stick would appear in his life to train Matt to control his senses and hone his body into a weapon.

In college, Matt would meet his future best friend and business partner, Franklin “Foggy” Nelson. He would also meet, Elektra Natchios, who he would begin a long, on-again-off-again, love affair with. Meeting another person who was such a capable martial artist as he was inspired him to don a black mask and black sweatsuit to sometimes aide people in need. Rescuing children from criminals was some of his first works as a masked vigilante.

Graduating from Columbia University, Matt and Foggy would open their own law firm together, taking in underdog clients to help them get the justice they deserved. Here, they would hire Karen Page as their assistant. Making a suit from the boxing gear his father had left behind, Matt would become Daredevil to fight crime and the rising threat of super villains. Taking the Fantastic Four as clients would lead to Matt finding villains such as Electro and the Matador to fight. The Owl and Purple Man would kidnap Karen Page on different occasions and each time Matt would take them on and come out ahead.

Foggy and Karen would learn Matt was Daredevil, or so they thought as Matt would pretend that he had a never before talked about twin brother, Mike Murdock to throw the two off his trail. He would then fake Mike’s death as Daredevil and then claiming he was chosen by his brother to be his successor. Foggy and Karen were probably so perplexed by this that they just had to let it go for their own sanity. Karen and Matt would date for some time but then Karen would leave to try and become an actress in Hollywood.

Moving to San Francisco, Matt and Natasha Romanov, the Black Widow, would begin dating and working together for his tenure in the bay. When the two broke up, but remaining friends, Matt would return to New York. Here, he’d be reunited with Elektra, because she had been hired by the Kingpin to kill Daredevil. One of two hired killers to go after him, Matt would also meet one of his deadliest foes, Bullseye. The ensuing battles would end with Elektra dying in Matt’s arms. Not willing to let it end this way, Matt would team up with the Chaste, the ancient order that Stick was from and had trained both himself and Elektra, to try and resurrect her. Though unsuccesful, she would return due to the machinations of the Hand, the Chaste’s enemy and the Hand would become a thorn in Matt’s side.

Karen’s attempts for Hollywood success would not work out and she’d return to New York addicted to heroin and sells out Matt’s identity as Daredevil which would make its way to the Kingpin. Armed with this knowledge, Wilson Fisk would begin to tear apart Matt’s life. Seeing that Karen and Matt were together again, he’d hire the mercenary Typhoid Mary to break them up and nearly kill Matt. Further destroying his life, Fisk would make Matt penniless and destitute, eventually his identity would reach the tabloids. Faking his death, Matt would fool even Foggy and Karen, leaving his old life behind he would take on the name Jack Batlin, in honor of his father’s boxing name. Eventually Matt was able to clear things up and return to his life as Matt Murdock and Daredevil, ready to take on all those who threatened Hell’s Kitchen.

We’re not done yet folks, not by a long shot. This one is going to have to be a two-parter. Matt Murdock still has to take on the Kingpin and Bullseye amon others. We got more costume changes and friends to be made, loves to be lost, and enemies to face off against. Daredevil’s been on the big screen without much success but then made it big on the small screen with a Netflix series. Will he ever make a return to the big screen teaming up with other MCU characters? Maybe! See you next time!

Suggested ReadingDaredevil Vol. 1Daredevil and Black WidowDaredevil: YellowDaredevil: Born AgainDaredevil: The Man Without FearDaredevil: Season One